Unveiling a Microexon Switch: Novel Regulation of the Activities of Sugar Assimilation and Plant-Cell-Wall-Degrading Xylanases and Cellulases by Xlr2 in <i>Trichoderma virens</i>

oleh: Cynthia Coccet Castañeda-Casasola, María Fernanda Nieto-Jacobo, Amanda Soares, Emir Alejandro Padilla-Padilla, Miguel Angel Anducho-Reyes, Chris Brown, Sereyboth Soth, Edgardo Ulises Esquivel-Naranjo, John Hampton, Artemio Mendoza-Mendoza

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2024-05-01

Deskripsi

Functional microexons have not previously been described in filamentous fungi. Here, we describe a novel mechanism of transcriptional regulation in <i>Trichoderma</i> requiring the inclusion of a microexon from the <i>Xlr2</i> gene. In low-glucose environments, a long mRNA including the microexon encodes a protein with a GAL4-like DNA-binding domain (Xlr2-α), whereas in high-glucose environments, a short mRNA that is produced encodes a protein lacking this DNA-binding domain (Xlr2-β). Interestingly, the protein isoforms differ in their impact on cellulase and xylanase activity. Deleting the <i>Xlr2</i> gene reduced both xylanase and cellulase activity and growth on different carbon sources, such as carboxymethylcellulose, xylan, glucose, and arabinose. The overexpression of either <i>Xlr2-α</i> or <i>Xlr2-β</i> in <i>T. virens</i> showed that the short isoform (Xlr2-β) caused higher xylanase activity than the wild types or the long isoform (Xlr2-α). Conversely, cellulase activity did not increase when overexpressing <i>Xlr2-β</i> but was increased with the overexpression of <i>Xlr2-α</i>. This is the first report of a novel transcriptional regulation mechanism of plant-cell-wall-degrading enzyme activity in <i>T. virens.</i> This involves the differential expression of a microexon from a gene encoding a transcriptional regulator.